Sharing New Year’s Optimism

By Dick Lahn

Dear Bay Weekly:

My philosophy from high school was based on the lines in the A.E. Houseman poem, Therefore, since the world has still Much good, but much less good than ill, And while the sun and moon endure, Luck’s a chance but trouble’s sure, I’d face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good.

A kid I went to high school with, P.F. Kluge, now a well-known writer (Edie and the Cruisers; The Big Elvis), wrote over his picture in my yearbook, “Don’t be a cheap cynic Richard”. This statement stuck with me and always gnawed at me.

Later I realized my character flaw and the payback this racket was providing me. Pointing out the mistakes everyone else was making screwing up the world, I found ways to shirk responsibility by complaining about downsides and failures.

Now looking forward, I see indicators for optimism, in the world and in U.S. movements that are building: